The Best in the West

Oooooooo-klahoma where the wins come sweepin’ down the plain!

Like I said a couple of days ago, if the Thunder shoot 50% or better than the Spurs will be heading home… permanently. Well, that is exactly what happened last night in Oklahoma as the Thunder went on to beat the #1 seeded San Antonio Spurs 107-99 in game 6 of the Western Conference Finals and win the series 4-2. The Spurs had more 3’s made, more assists, less turnovers, more steals and at one point were up by 18 points in the game. So how did this team of seasoned veterans lose to the up-and-coming young guns of Oklahoma? It’s easy, OKC wanted it much more.

Scott thought Durant durable, said there would be no Kevin cave-in. Brooks brokers no breaks and is proven right.

For the first time all season, OKC coach Scott Brooks, a.k.a Marty McCoach, left his star player Kevin Durant in the game for all 48 minutes of regulation. Durant had 34 points and 14 rebounds, making Brook’s decision look pretty genius.

After the game Brooks went on to say, “It’s an amazing moment for him to play like this in this moment, in this setting, and I wasn’t going to take him out, I was not going to take him out. I don’t care how many times he looked at me fatigued. He has enough, and I think all of our guys have enough to play. You just have to fight through it.”

Unfortunately, Spurs and Ducan do not.

Huge games from both Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were not enough to help San Antonio move on to their 5th Finals appearance in a decade and a half. Duncan put in 25 with 14 rebounds and Parker followed that up with 29 points and 12 assists, but with Manu having his worst game of the playoffs with only 10 points and 1 assist, the Spurs just did not have enough. As a life long Knicks fan, I had grown to despise the slow-tempo style of play the Spurs have had for years, especially when they beat by Knicks in 5 games in the 2000 Finals, but this season was different. Even though coach Popovich stuck to his usual by-the-book mentality, the Spurs had a sort of swagger in their offense that propelled them into the best record in the NBA and the second highest scoring team. I found myself rooting for them when the Knicks weren’t involved, which was most of the season. I wanted to see Tim Duncan get that Final ring on his way to the Basketball Hall of Fame, but unfortunately he and the Spurs came up just short.

Hmmm – coach Brooks and NBA West champions. Think there might be something mystical about Westbrook playing so well?

I am happy to see a young and talented team make it to the NBA Finals because it gives hope to all of those teams that consider themselves in their “rebuilding” years. So keep your head up MJ, maybe your Bobcats can be here in 5 years…but probably not. OKC will have an extremely tough matchup with whomever comes out of the East. Whether it is Boston or Miami, Durant is going to need a lot of help from his right-hand man Westbrook. Westbrook showed some slight inconsistencies while playing the Spurs in games 1 and 2, but then he got his shit together and played like the all-star he is to help reel off 4 straight wins against arguably the NBA’s best team. Regardless of who comes out of the East, I am extremely excited to see what OKC can do under the biggest spotlight the NBA has to offer.